“Ah, I take it another one bites the dust?” There is humor in his tone but also frustration. I have been breaking my back this last month to get this company up and running, but Caleb has been there every step. It’s meant a lot of late nights…and a lot of sleepovers. He helps me strategize and plan. He’s hooked me up with various contacts, and I’ve even had Ava do some design work for the branding of it. Caleb, with his wizard business brain, helps me with the financials, the projections, and even putting me in touch with an accountant. He’s the one who has been sending me contacts for silent investors he thinks would remain under the radar so my father can’t interfere. But so far they’ve each been misogynistic shit bags. It’s moments like these I wish I could fund it all myself. But that would mean relying on Daddy’s money, and I refuse.
“I’d rather they bite my Jimmys after I throat kick them,” I reply through a clenched smile, and he chuckles. “But I’m being a reasonable and responsible…mature adult.”
“Mmm, I prefer you a little reckless,” he teases and my stomach does a little swoop at the promise in those words.
“That’s because when I’m reckless, you end up covered in something edible while I lick it off.” His laugh is more a groan than anything else.
“Maybe we skip tonight.” He sighs, and despite the fact he can’t see me, I shake my head.
“No way, I need a drink. My soul needs the drink, please don’t deprive me of my wine right now.”
He chuckles. “Okay, fine. I’m leaving now.”
“All right, I’ll meet you there.”
“See you soon, pretty girl.” I can hear his gorgeous smile through his words. I hang up the phone and sigh, already feeling so much lighter than I had when I left that stuffy office building.
I enjoy the walk to Pucks, the air is starting to cool now that it is heading into fall and I try to calm my natural instinct to freak out about being with Caleb around our friends. It’s not the first time we’ve all hung out; the first time had been weird, but it was quickly obvious that nothing needed to change. We still played our games, teased, and laughed together, and sometimes even involved our friends, which made it all the more fun. The only difference is now I have his full attention, and there is something about that that has me biting my lip and smiling. It is oddly pleasing. It’s like every single eligible person in New York just ceased to exist. And our friends don’t seem to care in the slightest. It’s probably made better by the fact Caleb isn’t overly touchy in public; instead, we have small moments of affection—the brush of the back of his hand against mine, my hand on his thigh, a sweet kiss before he gets up to order drinks. It feels…strangely normal. Except when Addison sees us kiss and then beams laser heart eyes like she can force us to be in love. I wish there was a way to make her understand that wecan’tbe in love. Caleb and I already agreed to that when this whole thing started;it’s not for us. But it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy this lust-filled, happy bubble we’ve been in.
“Garcia. You look terrifyingly happy today. How many babies did you make cry?” Lucas gives me a cheeky smile from where he and Stella loiter at the front of Bozzelli’s, the two of them with their helmets in hand, looking like they also just arrived.
I flick my eyes up in some lazy eye roll, still unable to wipe the smile off my face, and Stella gives him a bored look. “You’ll be the baby crying if you keep poking the bear,” she mumbles, her signature soft grin in place that never seems to reach her eyes. She gives me a friendly smile before walking inside.
“Where’s that pretty housemate of yours?” I pop a hip, raising an eyebrow at Lucas, who just ignores me, busying himself with his bike.
He grunts and I narrow my eyes at him. “Heard her new boyfriend’s a keeper,” I goad him. I can’t help but chuckle at the perfect reaction as his eyes snap to mine, simmering with a barely restrained anger I don’t see much on Lucas. But one look at my teasing expression has him huffing a laugh and shaking his head.
“Very funny, Garcia.”
“When you going to tell her?” I say quietly, taking a step closer. He doesn’t look up at me, only side-eyes. But then, after a beat, he takes a breath and meets my eyes. “You first.” He lowers his head, making a point to look past me, but before I can ask what he means, firm arms wrap around my shoulders, pulling my back against a hard chest, and Caleb’s lips press against my neck.
“Missed you,” he mumbles as he presses a few quick kisses along my skin. Giggling like a fricken eighth-grader, I spin, looping my arms around his neck and pulling him down for a kiss hello.
“I saw you this morning.”
“Mmm. Still too long.”
I chuckle at him, getting one more kiss, and then follow Lucas into the bar and find the table with the rest of our friends.
We settle into our usual chats; I catch up with the girls and go over what we are doing this week. I give them footnotes on my publishing plan, not wanting to tell them too much and risk seeing the sympathy on their faces when they realize what a complete fail it is at the moment. It’s bad enough that Halle and Jasper are constantly asking how I am and what I am doing, and while I appreciate it, I just want to be out of this shitty place and working on my dream.
Eventually everyone settles into their own conversations, and Caleb bumps my shoulder to ask about the meeting.
“His first question was what CEO I had in mind, and when I told him I’d be running the place myself, he literally thought it was a joke. The guy started laughing and then straightened up when he realized I was not laughing with him. The meeting was pretty much over after that.” I circle my finger around the rim of the glass, staring at the bubbles floating up the glass while I feel Caleb’s attention on me.
“I’m sorry, Rosebud. I didn’t realize how shortsighted these guys were.” Caleb’s hand rests comfortingly on my thigh, and I can’t help but let my head fall against his chest for a moment. He places a sweet kiss to my forehead before we both straighten up.
“It was worse when he said that the idea of it being solely romance and erotica based wasn’t tasteful.” I screw my nose up and Caleb grunts something. I leave out the fact that I had been seriously considering throwing a stapler at his head, flashing my tits, and saying,How’s that for tasteful.But again, I was trying to be a mature businesswoman. Caleb leaves his warm palm resting on my thigh as we listen to our friends chatting and laughing. I catch a few things from Addy about her study, but when I notice Caleb has been silent for longer than normal,I look over at him, finding him with a rather serious expression, thoughtful almost, as he stares out at nothing.
I nudge his shoulder teasingly, but he only gives me a quick flash of a tight grin. “Hey, what is it?”
He clears his throat and then looks over at me. “I have an idea. And I don’t know how you’re going to take it. I kind of have things in motion, actually…but I know you’re independent and…well, I don’t know.” He bites his lip as he searches my face, and when I start to back away a little, the hand he has on my thigh squeezes reassuringly, easing his expression to one a little softer, though the lines of tension are still there. “Will you come home with me, and we can talk about it over pancakes in the morning?” His smile morphs into his classic, charming, boyish grin, bringing our combined hands to his lips to kiss the back of my hand. I pout and narrow my eyes at him, but he knew he had me with the lure of pancakes.
“Okay, fine.” I relent. And though he seems a little more relaxed I can’t help but note the tension in his shoulders still.
Caleb’s touches get more…explorative the longer we stay out, and after the shit day I had, it is fair to say I am eager to get home and allow Caleb to distract me. We make some excuse about work and meetings in order to excuse ourselves early, but I’m really not sure that we’re fooling anyone.
We leave and make it back to his apartment, in similar form to that very first time: heated kisses and pushed up against the wall.
